to see me say that I completely agree with this article - in this particular case it's a disgrace that someone feels they can charge what is as good as £1 for a bunch of digital data that sells for 55p in America. It's a music file for goodness sake, nobody has to do anything with it - the musicians and studio technicians have already done the work, and the cost of distributing such files via a server is no more here than across the Atlantic - I know that for sure. A cyncical person might well take the view that here is a prime example of that well-known marketing principle known as realising the perceived value. It means you charge what you think the customer expects to pay, regardless of the true value of the item or service. It works a lot of the time, until someone else undercuts you and leaves you looking like a rampant profiteer.

I have to say that this market is really still in its infancy and while folk like Coca Cola may think it's a good idea to do this sort of thing the word does get around and I do believe that things are moving in the direction of the consumer albeit slowly

The classic case is that of a well known market leading jeans manufacturer who had long battles with Tesco while trying to maintain a £50 price ticket in the UK against much lower $ prices in the States. Look at that market now. Tesco sell jeans starting at £4 and I don't suppose they are by any means rubbish and I bet they make a few pennies. Levi in the UK has virtually gone.

Car manufacturers are falling into line, with UK prices moving towards European so that it is no longer possible to save much by buying abroad

The movie industry is finding that it is no longer a good idea to delay new films via regional coding, either in the cinema or DVD/VHS. People do buy across borders and if they wait the pirates get there first. And there are signs that prices are moving more into line as well

I agree that software producers in the states still like to change the $ to £ but leave the figures as they are. The technical manuals are the same as you will find with Que and Microsoft Press but the consumers are beginning to press for this to change and so far as Coca Cola is concerned it is up to the consumer to decide not to buy, or at least to find the link to the dollar site, as I suggested above

According to this article Coke only describe new music at the US website mentioned below. TC.

Quote:

'Some brand marketers are even going to try selling downloads. Pepsi rival Coca-Cola has unveiled plans to launch a download store in Britain. Mycokemusic.com will go live in January, offering 250,000 new and recent hits from 8,500 acts, according to the company. Specific licensing deals have not been announced. Tracks will sell for 99 pence ($1.71) each.

The site is expected to have a broad promotional component as well. To support the launch, Coca-Cola is planning a yearlong promotional campaign that will include free, exclusive tracks.

In the U.S., Coke sponsors a promotional music site called cokemusic.com, which highlights new music. No music is sold through the destination...'